


Apnea

by edelmystic



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Human!Baekhyun, Humor, M/M, Pet Names, if u squint, merman!jongdae, side!kaisoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24165586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edelmystic/pseuds/edelmystic
Summary: Apneanoun: a temporary suspension of breathing.“Please don’t be dead. I just heard you breathe, please say something.” The words came out slightly rushed and filled with worry.Okay, time to face the situation.Baekhyun took another deep breath, more hoping it would give him courage than out of need. He already had a vague outline of what he would say. Then he opened his eyes and almost swallowed his tongue.Or alternatively: Baekhyun finds out about mermaids being real the hard way.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongdae | Chen
Comments: 12
Kudos: 66





	Apnea

**Author's Note:**

> Jongdae speaks in a very Special™ way and I just hope you appreciate it
> 
> I wrote this fic for my favorite baekchenist, love ya zee

Baekhyun hadn’t believed it when people said your life could flash before your eyes when you died. He was also not a physicist so he could not be sure how long falling had lasted, surely not more than a couple of seconds, but he really did see a lot things. Mostly things he regretted, even if they were unimportant, like how many ducks he fed bread to before reading bread makes duck sick. His brain overwhelmed him with thoughts. _I do_ not _like heights_. _Obviously that left me no other option but to jump off a cliff. Did I drink my idiot juice this morning?_ _What was I even doing, what the hell man._ He was so busy seeing flashing scenes and having nonsensical thoughts he didn’t hear the voice addressing him. 

"Nononooo be careful you're gonna fall! Shit. Fuck. Okay." 

Baekhyun was, of course, being dramatic. He fell from perhaps four or five meters. He wasn’t likely to even get hurt, or at least not too badly.

The voice Baekhyun heard belonged to Jongdae, who cringed while watching it all from his singing spot. He knew human beings usually would not die from such a fall. He also knew there were no rocks waiting the jumpster once he hit the water. The tide was calm and steady, so waves would not crash him against the cliff he just jumped from. He knew all of it but he could not help but get sick with worry. _He did jump because of you_ whispered a voice inside his conscience, one that sounded very much like a friend of his.

Jongdae loved to sing. That was a problem. That was the _current_ problem. Being a mermaid (or a merman if you will) wasn't always easy on him. But it wasn't Jongdae's fault that he had a lovely voice and that he loved, really _loved_ to sing. 

His underwater home was pestered by plagues that went by the name of Kyungsoo, Chanyeol and Sehun. Kyungsoo wasn't really a pest but he was so indifferent to Jongdae's struggles that it left him no choice but to pair him up with the other two; Sehun and Chanyeol were just menaces, the merman believed them capable of setting fire to his under _water_ house. It made Jongdae shudder just to think. 

They had vastly different personalities but all had somehow arrived to the conclusion that they were sick of hearing Jongdae sing every waking hour.

Since his friends had banished him from his own home ( _rude as fuck_ ) and Jongdae had already gotten himself kicked out of every place he had thought of to practice ( _even ruder_ ) it left him no choice but to go over the surface to sing. Plus the acoustic was much better above water than under it, which is what he told himself to console his wounded heart. 

The problem was that humans were dumb, weak and prone to jump themselves off of whatever surface they were standing in at the moment they heard him. Jongdae didn't understand why the humans seemed to be completely unable to swim or float after they plummeted to their deaths. 

The singing practice had had several accidents already. He thought that maybe he should go somewhere else better concealed from the two legged, dry and clapped idiots; his nonexistent sense of direction would not allow him to dare go very far, and whenever he asked the fish for directions they would send him on a fool's errand (seven times was _enough_.)

Jongdae had already tried popping out in a random part of the ocean. Staying constantly above water was such an extensive exercise that he had his tail cramped and in intense pain for the next three days. To make matters worse another stupid biped on a fishing boat had found him that day despite his efforts. 

Within his safe wandering distance he discovered a nice enough spot, next to the shore. If it could be called that. There was a cliff and beneath it there was a lovely cave where he could sit, keep himself moisturized. An added plus was that he saw a very decreased amount of humans than on any other place he had tried. The cave kept his songs from prying ears, unless someone walked really close to the cliff’s edge. 

So far not many people had jumped when they heard the siren song. Jongdae didn't have a high regard for mankind but that didn't mean he would let them die, specially if it was his fault in a sense. Thankfully all of them snapped out of the brain malfunction once they hit the cold water so Jongdae didn’t actually have to save them himself. _Most of them, at least._

_Why isn’t he swimming up!!!!_

\------------------

Baekhyun had no reason to go to the allegedly hidden beach, really how hidden can a beach be if so many people knew where it was. "Stupid ass beach can't even hide right," he mumbled as he took off his shoes to feel the warm sand between his toes. It was gonna be a pain to wash off later, as sand always was, but Baekhyun didn't feel like giving a shit about his immediate future. 

He had just come back from a mediocre job interview, his performance had been good, the prosper of actually getting the job was the mediocre part, since he had no real interest in it. He had studied music in college, but after a year of trying to find a job that filled his heart with passion and fed him he was ready to settle for a good paying job. _What the fuck is an unpaid internship bitch, I’ll kill you._

The interview had been for a job as a music producer and though it _was_ on the music field his passion had always been singing. He wanted to be a singer. He really wanted to be a singer. More than anything, however, he wanted to stop abusing Jongin's kindness. Jongin was already housing him for free. Baekhyun also looked forward to being able to eat something other than microwaveable food when his friend was away.

It was very likely that he would get the job thanks to the year he had already spent searching. The things he had already tried did look appealing on his resumé. His previous jobs might have not been right for Baekhyun but he always put his everything into anything. He hopped on the first bus that took him to the ocean; he deserved a rest. The bus driver told him about the hidden beach, the cashier in the convenience store he stopped at told him about the hidden beach, the two ladies behind him on the line also told him about the hidden beach. Baekhyun could not understand why they would bother to call it hidden if every single person knew where it was. _Maybe to spare the beach's feelings?_

Getting to the beach was a bit tricky, he had to walk through a patch of land that seemed to be taking him farther away from the ocean and he was starting to believe he had gotten lost or that somehow all the people in town were messing with him, when he saw the path clear in front of him and the critically acclaimed hidden beach ahead. It was pretty and somehow cozy, clearly less sullied than the beaches that were not hidden, so he quickly apologized to the beach for the ill feelings he had hosted towards it. 

He walked through the sand and he got to the rocks, he decided to get his feet wet and try to see what was beyond. He saw other tiny beaches ahead, only a couple of meters long at best. The sea here was oddly calm, almost like a pool, which he found odd because he was used to the sea trying to beat him up and give him a saltwater induced poisoning. Beyond the beaches the landscape turned to a cliff and there were trees there, trees to provide shadow and prevent Baekhyun's skin from getting badly sunburned. 

He walked to the cliff and settled down there, he inspected the snacks he bought like they were a treasure. He looked at the sea with no regret at all for not getting in, since it would get him all sticky and nasty; he liked the ocean but that did NOT mean he liked to swim in it. 

What Baekhyun did not know, because he could not see it on his way up, was that under the cliff were caves created from the rock being washed by the sea. That sure fucking bit him on the ass. 

That’s when he heard someone sing. " _What the fuck"_. The next thing he knew he was plummeting down the cliff.

-

 _This water is_ cold _. Just like a penguin’s ass. God said my path wouldn’t be easy but she forgot to mention it would be cold as fuck._

Baekhyun’s brain had not rebooted yet and as luck had it he was always bad at floating. He had to make a conscious effort to stay above water. Emphasis on the _conscious._ Which he wasn’t. He sank rather spectacularly. 

His survival instincts didn’t kick in until he remembered he was very scared of the deep sea creatures, that and the pair of eyes he saw staring directly at him. If Baekhyun had been just a bit less on control of his body the water surrounding him would have been less cold very fast.

The eyes were getting bigger. _Hehehe probably just getting closer!_

...

_CLOSER?_

He started wildly kicking and paddling. In his panic he forgot the whole point was to swim upwards and he was already getting light headed. He closed his eyes. Even if there were scary deep sea creatures planning on eating him, at least they’d be less scary if he couldn’t see them. He swimmed with closed eyes for just a moment when he felt something grab him by his torso and _pull._

He gasped for air, eyes still closed.

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” said a very soft voice.

Baekhyun’s eyes remained firmly shut, now out of embarrassment instead of fear. What Baekhyun now recognized as a warm pair of hands pushed him gently away.

“Please don’t be dead. I just heard you breathe, please say something.” The words came out slightly rushed and filled with worry.

 _Okay, time to face the situation._ Baekhyun took another deep breath, more hoping it would give him courage than out of need. He already had a vague outline of what he would say. Then he opened his eyes and almost swallowed his tongue.

Staring at him with unnerving eye contact was a beautiful man. Regular Baekhyun would be able to handle talking to a handsome stranger, cliff diving aficionado Baekhyun was not. He tried to say something. Anything. Words came out of his mouth but unfortunately they did not seem to form sentences.

The stranger’s eyebrows were knitted together. He had all of his feelings written on his face and then some more. Concern, confusion, _frustration._ Some amusement too. Baekhyun was glad his show of making a clown out of himself was at least worth a faint smile.

“I’m okay. Hehehe, yeah. Perfectly fine. This is just how I spend Thursdays. Don’t you?” Baekhyun felt his voice getting higher by the second.

“Can’t say I do, no.” 

“Really? You should try it. Very good for stress relief.”

“You weren’t swimming up though?”

“Ah. Wasn’t I? I think I was?”

“I don’t see any wounds but maybe you hit your head, pretty one.”

_Give me a break!!! Wait did he just call me pretty?_

“Uhhh I should call my friend,” Baekhyun patted his pockets in search for his phone. He found it on his left back one. “Motherfucker.” 

The stranger’s eyes opened comically wide. “I went for the swim with my phone on me.” Baekhyun started walking towards the shore, mumbling out empty curses and breathing deeply, hoping it would help with the knot on his throat and the prickling of his eyes. _I really can’t afford a new phone, not unless...._

He realized he still hadn’t thanked his handsome saviour, he turned around to do so but there was no one behind him. There was no one on the beach except for him. “Well, maybe I did hit my head. Definitely time to go home.”

And so, dripping wet, Baekhyun retraced his steps back to the bus station.

-

When his friends saw Jongdae return earlier than usual and with a guilty face they jumped at the opportunity to make fun of him or kill someone, should the need arise. Probably not. Jongdae started lifting items and then putting them back in the exact same spot he found them, as if he were searching for something.

“Have you misplaced something?” Sehun asked from his spot on Chanyeol’s lap. “Or are you just interest on checking the bottom of every single thing you own?”

“I feel dreadful,” Jongdae began. “I broke his phone and he was evidently upset about it. I did not even apologize because I started to fret and ended up leaving before he got more upset.”

Jongdae’s reply did not match Sehun’s question but it let everyone in the room know two things. First, he is not looking for anything he just has an overload of nervous energy. Second, the current situation was probably about a jumper. It usually was. “Whose phone did you break?” Chanyeol asked.

“I don’t even know!” Jongdae sniped back. “He was so beautiful and he almost drowned and it would have been my fault and I did not even apologize.” He looked like he wanted to continue but didn’t have enough air to speak any more words out. He took a short pause and began again. “He had his phone on him when he jumped into the water and he looked so discomposed and he--”

“Jongdae I love you,” Kyungsoo interrupted him before he could continue with his reverie. “But please shut up. Sounds like you’re overthinking and my job as the blunt voice of reason is to remind you that you didn’t do it on purpose and it’s not like you have any money to pay him back even if you wanted to.”

“You’re fired.”

\--------------

Jongdae had been sending out messages in bottles in the hopes of reaching the beautiful boy. His cavemerman brain hadn't worked well enough to gather basic information on the boy, so he didn't know his name, he didn't know where he lived or if he would ever come back. He also couldn’t simply go to town and ask the locals if they knew him. The walking would be tricky at best and he had no idea how people would take to seeing a naked man. Jongdae didn’t know all of the human rules but he was fairly certain public nudity was frowned upon.

The letter on his hands was the eleventh one he sent out. He was running out of pretty bottles and he did not wish to send the rest of the letters inside the ugly plastic bottles ocean pollution washed into the neighborhood. His letter read as follows:

_Greetings, dazzling one. I don't believe I got your name and I deeply regret that. I write in the hope of you receiving my letter and granting me the honor of your presence. Meeting you was a delightful occurrence and even if I don't know you that well I will be forward and tell you: I miss you and I wish to see you again. If you are the gracious, beautiful boy I'm thinking of then I shall have to tell you I'll be waiting for you in the same spot we met last time._

_Hoping to see you once more, Jongdae._

Baekhyun kept on visiting the beach daily. He received an email that comfirmed he’d gotten the job; sorting everything out without his cellphone had been tricky but he was an employed man. He had nine days to kill before his first day of work. He caught three of the letters while trekking to the cliff and they all read similarly. Jongdae had never introduced himself either so Baekhyun had no real reason to believe the letter was for him more than he _wished_ the letter was for him. He was also half convinced he had hallucinated the whole thing.

The first letter he ignored. The second he read and he started walking but gave up halfway. _Real people don’t talk or write like that_ (Had he walked for a couple more minutes he would have heard Jongdae but alas). The third one he thought fuck it and walked all the way. 

At first he heard nothing, saw nothing. After ten minutes of deafening silence Baekhyun took a nap. He dreamt of open spaces, a pleasant breeze blowing his hair away from his face. A beautiful melody paired with the sound of waves breaking on the shore seemed to come from all around him. He couldn’t make out the words but the voice was heart-wrenchingly beautiful. The water barely reaching his feet woke him up but Baekhyun didn’t register it as being awake, the landscape was gone but the hypnotising song remained. 

He opened his eyes, taking in the mild discomfort from napping under the blazing sun. He walked without being aware of it, his body searching for the source of the song as if it were a second nature. Baekhyun got waist deep into the water before he finally spotted the cave. Dazedly he felt glad he didn’t have a second phone to ruin. The voice seemed to come from the cave and so he set for it, without realizing that with every step he tooks toward it the water was covering more and more of him.

He was still a short distance from the cave’s opening when his feet stopped touching the sand under him, the song all the more tempting. Baekhyun needed to see who was singing, he needed to hear the song closer, better.

Unfortunately he had not become a better swimmer overnight, he flailed his arms a couple of times and then he went completely under. The salty water forced him to close his eyes. Baekhyun had been recalling the feeling of the hands that had saved him from drowning every night, just before falling asleep. Sometimes during the day, too. He felt those hands again.

The first thing he noticed was that the music was no more. The second was the definitely real and very handsome man from last time, who had once again saved him from drowning. Baekhyun groaned internally, beyond pissed at himself for making a terrible first and second impression. Before he could say anything his saviour broke into an almost blinding smile.

“Beautiful one, it’s you!”

“I- yeah- wait what?” the compliment caught Baekhyun off guard, successfully getting him to almost choke on his own saliva.

“Oh it _is_ you! I have been waiting for you to come,” the smile growing bigger and, somehow, brighter. “I wanted to make sure you were alright. That was quite a fall you took last time.”

Baekhyun glanced up. From this point of view it didn’t look that big of a fall, he could feel his cheeks getting hotter, he knew they were exposing his embarrassment in different shades of red.

“I am so sorry, I almost got you killed again pretty one.” The stranger’s eyebrows were just as expressive as Baekhyun remembered them, the charm paired with a lower lip forming the loveliest pout. The words did not fully make sense to Baekhyun.

“Don’t worry, it was my own fault.” Baekhyun mumbled out, he didn’t know what had gotten into him but he knew no one pushed him off that cliff nor dragged him onto the sea. Certainly not the man that had saved him from drowning both times. “Did you hear a song?”

“I did. I stopped singing when I noticed you.”

“You were the one singing?” Baekhyun was half convinced the song was a product of his imagination, he could not believe a voice like that existed outside of his mind.

-

"Do you take song requests?" the boy could barely take in enough air into his lungs to actually be able of articulating words and _this_ was what he said. 

"Only if you try your best not to jump into the water again, beautiful one." Jongdae reasoned after a while. 

The merman was quite capable of pulling the cutie out of the water once again but he'd rather not. Not struggling for breath suited the young man.

"My name is Baekhyun by the way. Byun Baekhyun," the cutie said as he looked around for something to dry himself with, to no avail. “In case you were wondering.”

"I was, thank you.” Jongdae replied with a smile. “I am Jongdae, also I think it’s worth mentioning there's no point in getting yourself dry if you want to hear another song" Jongdae said with a pretty smile, his eyes glowing and his lips curling up. “I hope you’re not carrying your phone with you again.”

Jongdae could tell his words mortified Baekhyun, going by the groan he let out. “I’m not. I tried to get it fixed and the clerk at the shop laughed at me.”

Jongdae had never had a cellphone, what with living underwater and all but he knew they were important to humans. He also knew some could be very expensive. He had always found the concept of capitalism oddly weird, _sure labor is important but the money? They’d just let anyone go hungry if they don’t have money?_ He shook his head, he was getting carried away with thoughts that weren’t important. Not at the moment, not with Baekhyun finally there again.

“Very well. Do you have any song in mind you’d like for me to sing?” The merman was aware that Baekhyun was very likely to jump into the water once he began singing, but he wanted to keep Baekhyun there for as long as he could. 

“I think you should sing a Lee Hi song. Just pick one you know.”

“I um- I don’t know any.”

“ _You don't know any Lee Hi songs?_ ” Baekhyun looked positively offended at Jongdae’s lack of knowledge on the singer. Jongdae could almost swear he heard the other mutter that men did nothing but disappoint under his breath. “Ok. Ok, uh- I could sing a bit and then you sing? If you want to I mean.”

“I would like that very much, please do.”

Baekhyun suddenly looked a bit green, nervous Jongdae guessed. Nevertheless, he cleared his throat, turned around and began humming. Jongdae was used to nice singing, all of his friends were nice singers, his neighbours and acquaintances could all carry a tune. Only a few possessed the “gift” to make humans drown themselves, Jongdae knew it was some sort of magic at work but he never understood it, not until he heard Baekhyun sing.

Baekhyun’s singing wasn’t flawless, but the emotions his voice carried made up for the bits were his breath came a bit short. Jongdae knew that under better circumstances Baekhyun would be nothing short of perfect. He understood the need to be _closer._ He was trying his best to pay attention to the words since Baekhyun was expecting him to sing the song after he was finished, so he didn’t notice he was actually moving closer.

-

Singing in front of Jongdae was unnerving, especially now that he knew the song he heard both times had come from him. That and the fact that he was particularly attractive. And shirtless. Still, Baekhyun pushed on; he knew it wasn’t his best performance, but he was nervous and very recently non-drowning. Not seeing Jongdae helped calm his nerves, he finished singing and turned back around to face Jongdae once again.

Jongdae was so close. Baekhyun was tired of feeling like a cliche, like a shoujo manga protagonist of sorts. He opened his mouth to speak before turning around and was now realizing he was once again unable to speak. He took a deep breath for courage. “It’s your turn now.”

Sure enough, the tantalizing voice of his dreams came out of Jongdae’s mouth. Jongdae closed his mouth because he noticed Baekhyun about to go for another swim before Baekhyun himself realized what he was about to do.

"I’m sorry, I did it again.” Jongdae looked _sad._ Which Baekhyun didn’t understand one bit, he couldn’t see how Jongdae could possibly be guilty of anything.

“It’s not you, I’m just- I don’t know for sure what keeps getting to me but it’s definitely not your fault.”

“It’s my singing, I know it makes humans do things. Senseless things.” Jongdae explained with his soft voice.

“Your singing is beautiful man, but I don’t believe in mermaids so I don’t see how your singing could make me drown.” 

Jongdae looked puzzled for a second before he burst out laughing. Baekhyun was aware he was being laughed _at_ and not laughed _with_ ; he put on his best impression of an angry face which effectively calmed Jongdae down a bit, he still had a smile on his lips but Baekhyun didn’t care much. It suited him. 

“So you almost drown twice, coincidentally after hearing a song both times, the same stranger pulls you out of the water. Again, both times. That and the tail did not convince you?”

“What tail?”

“This tail?” Jongdae asked as he moved his tail out of the water for it to be in a more immediate display.

-

"You could just drown men! That's so sexy of you." Baekhyun said the disconcertingly contrasting words in such a cheery voice that it took Jongdae a full five seconds to comprehend what the other had said. 

" _Why_ would i drown men?!" He was still recovering from the pinching and pulling that went on before Baekhyun finally believed him

"Oh my. Because men suck? What other reason could you need?" Baekhyun said, while shining a beautiful smile.

"You're a man." Jongdae felt like Baekhyun was probably already aware of this fact but he could not come up with another reply.

"That's my personal problem and my own burden to bear, mind your business." 

"Literally what the fuck?" The merman’s face was once again a canvas of emotions. Baekhyun did not think he would ever get tired of staring at him, nor did he think he would ever finish mentally cataloging all the emotions he saw in the other’s face.

When they were both finished laughing Jongdae gestured, encouraging Baekhyun to follow, towards the rocks where the water was calmer and some even protruded out of it. He took a seat, the water was clear enough that Baekhyun could still see Jongdae’s tail under it. It was the most beautiful shade of green and it made Baekhyun feel sorry that he didn’t know the exact color’s name.

The sun started to set before either of them noticed that several hours had already gone by them while they talked. Baekhyun pinched his lower lip with his teeth, he didn’t have a handwatch and without his phone he had no way of knowing what time exactly it was. He could stay at any motel, he reasoned, but he hadn’t let Jongin know he wouldn’t be arriving and he didn’t want to worry his friend like that. He didn’t know what time exactly it was but he did know that transportation back home would cease soon enough.

“I think it’s best if I go now,” Baekhyun started, cringing a little because he didn’t really want to go. “I’m as dry as I’ll get and I don’t want to miss the last bus--”

Before he could finish explaining, however, Jongdae interrupted him. “Can I see you again, Baekhyun?”

“Uh- yeah sure! When?” 

\----------------

Baekhyun reached home safe and sound, if a bit sticky from the dried ocean water. He took a quick shower to remove the sand from the more unsightly places in his body. Barely half dressed he darted towards Jongin’s bedroom. He plopped down on Jongin’s bed, where Jongin was already asleep. Jongin continued softly snoring, undisturbed by Baekhyun’s antics he had long since gotten used to. If he had been awake he would have seen what he classified as Baekhyun’s gremlin smile.

Baekhyun left the room and came back with a bag of frozen peas he held with both hands. He let go with one hand to lift Jongin’s sweater a bit and went back to hold the icy bag. When his hands started to hurt he touched one of his cheeks with a finger and shivered. _Cold enough hehe._ He put the bag aside and placed his hands just above Jongin’s lower back; he pushed his hands forcefully against the warm flesh he found there, laughing as Jongin began to struggle.

“Byun Baekhyun I am going to kill you.” Jongin got out of bed and started chasing Baekhyun around the room. “You forget you’re tiny. When I get you, and I will, I’m gonna throw you out of the window.”

“It’s your fault for being asleep in my hour of need! What a lousy best friend.” Baekhyun knew Jongin had a heart too soft to do anything more than pinch him, he could not have chosen a kinder person to be his best friend. Jongin cried watching children’s movies that weren’t even sad. He was like a bear, more like Winnie the Pooh than the vicious killer type of bear, but a bear nonetheless. Soft and comforting.

“What could possibly have merited that?!” Jongin replied with a pout. His resting face was naturally pouty but this pout was intentional.

“I met a gorgeous mermaid today, that’s what! Well merman, I think.”

Jongin sat down. Baekhyun usually said a lot of jokes but he rarely lied, so Jongin stared at him and raised his eyebrows, signaling that he needed more information.

“A merman. I met a real merman, with tail and all. When I went to the beach.” Baekhyun explained

“Not that I don’t believe you, but are you sure you weren’t just experiencing a heat stroke?”

“I was hydrated and I wasn’t under direct sun today, Nini,” the nickname Baekhyun had given him years ago rolled out of his tongue easily.

“Ok, so a merman. With a tail you say. Maybe it was a prankster with some sort of swimming contraption?” Jongin was growing more and more serious. Baekhyun found his friend funny, he could tell him the most ridiculous tales and Jongin would always listen, ask for details and believe him.

“I checked and no. Real tail,” Baekhyun gestured as if he were forcefully pulling something off of his legs. “He sings like the fairy tales with mermaids said they do.” 

“Okay. Was he a dick and tried to drown you, then?”

“The opposite! I was drowning and he saved me!”

“We’ll come back to the part where you almost drowned later, hyung. If he was nice then I don’t see what the problem is.”

“The _problem-_ ” Baekhyun said through his teeth- “is that he’s the prettiest person I’ve ever seen! And he flirted! _At me_!”

“Hyung, that’s still not a problem.”

“That’s because you didn’t see him Nini.” He sighed out as he made himself at home on Jongin’s bed. “He makes my head blue screen, full on 404. So I can’t flirt back.”

“I haven’t know you to be anything but a shameless flirt, hyung,” Jongin stealthily inched closer and started tickling Baekhyun’s sides. “Are you gonna see him again?”

The tickle attack sprung Baekhyun up again and thus began again the cat and mouse game. He always lost but he didn’t resent being tackled by Jongin and tickled until he felt like he couldn’t breathe. “Stop-- I can’t breathe! I hm-- I’ve been doing enough of that these past days.” Jongin was unrelenting. Baekhyun started to feel like his lungs were gonna burst through his ribs. “I said I’d meet him next week.”

“Today is Sunday. Next week is literally tomorrow. _When?_ ”

"Uh. Well. Tuesday.”

That earned him a pinch on the butt. He knew it meant - _Why the hell did you agree to meet him so soon if you go full stupid when you see him-_ He pinched Jongin back, his retaliating pinch meant _What part of becoming stupid in his presence did you not understand._

They ended up on the floor, hands to themselves in a truce. Jongin turned his head so he could stare into Baekhyun’s eyes. “Now what the hell is this about almost drowning?”

-

“I saw him again! He’s just as beautiful as I remembered and he has a pretty name to go along.” Jongdae announced as he entered his home. He was sure his friends would be there, they had taken to his house like barnacles to a rock. His three friends were all occupying different spaces inside his home.

“Oh? Whoever might you be talking about?” Kyungsoo wondered out loud. He knew who Jongdae meant but he liked to metaphorically poke the bear with a stick.

“God I wish that were me.” Sehun grabbed a second metaphorical stick.

Chanyeol grabbed a metaphorical bat. “Who knows. Jongdae has _never_ mentioned anyone. Definitely not at least five times a day, seven days a week for the past two weeks.” 

“You guys all _suck_. Fiends, all of you. I should just befriend the sharks and urchins, they’d wound me less than you.” Jongdae whined. “They would probably take me more seriously too-”

Kyungsoo smiled, content with this particular teasing session. “Okay. Stop the wounded monologue and tell us about the man that lives in your mind rent free.”

“Oh. He’s beautiful. He’s delightful to be around, eloquent and charming!” Jongdae looked almost electrified, “his smile and oh! His voice! Like nothing I’ve ever heard before. His name is Baekhyun and he agreed to meet me again in two days time.”

His friends all heard him talk in circles about all he had learned about Baekhyun, even when Jongdae repeated a random detail for the fourth time. Not fiends after all.

\----------------

It was funny how time ran faster when you were dreading something, Baekhyun thought, he also thought that the concept of time was a little bitch who hadn’t done that for him when he worked ten hours shifts. Time had been painfully slow when he clocked in, the hours in between his breaks painfully so. Now that he was panicking over what to wear on what might very well be a date time ran as if mocking him.

It was Tuesday before he could make up his mind on whether he should bring Jongdae flowers or not. On one hand he knew flowers were always a nice gesture but on the other he knew some flowers had certain meanings and he was scared getting just any pretty flower would send the wrong message. Jongin had found this endlessly amusing but had helped anyways, he chose an outfit out for Baekhyun and reminded him that their friend Yixing ran a flower shop and could help him pick the best flower for his date.

Yixing was happy to help him out, given by the squeal he let out when Baekhyun explained that he needed a flower for a first date. He hadn’t wanted to assume it was a date but Jongin had bullied him into accepting it was so. Yixing looked pensive for a second and then rummaged through his display. He came back with one flower and a dimpled smile, when Baekhyun paid him Yixing requested that he came back soon to tell him how his date had gone.

His mind provided him with a third hand of sorts, to remind him that Jongdae lived underwater and that flowers were probably not the best gift. _A bit late for that, but thanks._ He clutched the flower tighter on his hands, a ranunculus Yixing had said. He brought it close to his nose, thinking maybe the scent would calm him down but he discovered it didn’t have much of a smell. _Ominous._

-

Baekhyun was at the cliff much faster than he anticipated, so he sat in the grass and took in the breeze. The wind carried a salty smell but not an unpleasant one, Baekhyun started to believe it was maybe part of the mermaid magic. The ocean had never been something he gave much thought to, but he was starting to think of it as beautiful. Magical.

The view and the wind calmed Baekhyun’s nerves, as much as they could be calmed. He removed his shoes and socks and replaced them with sandals he retrieved from his bag. He double checked his appearance and began the trek down to the beach. _I could always jump. It wouldn’t even be my worst idea._

Jongdae was sitting in the same spot Baekhyun had last seen him, looking better than he remembered. He stared for a moment, taking in the sight. He raised a hand and called out Jongdae’s name.

“Sweetness! I am so happy to see you.”

The pet names were gonna end up killing Baekhyun. “Here, for you,” Baekhyun said as he pressed something against Jongdae’s chest. Jongdae glanced down and noticed it was a very pretty flower he hadn’t seen before.

“Thank you!” Jongdae began. “It’s the second most beautiful thing I have seen today.” He said without breaking eye contact with Baekhyun. He did not grab for it and instead asked Baekhyun to hold onto it for a couple of minutes and disappeared under the sea.

Time decided to be funny again because it stretched on long enough for Baekhyun to overthink. Maybe the flower had been the wrong move. Jongdae had looked happy but maybe he was pretending for Baekhyun’s sake. Maybe mermaids hated flowers-

Jongdae popped back up, the water slicking his hair back which suited him, made him handsome(r) somehow. He had his hands behind his back, evidently holding something in them. He cleared his throat and asked Baekhyun to hold his hands out, which Baekhyun did; nothing could have prepared Baekhyun for the texture. It was slimy and it was moving. 

Baekhyun let out an inaudible shriek, he threw the thing as far as he could and felt his eyes water. He wasn’t upset, but the texture of whatever Jongdae had handed him had triggered a primal sense of disgust. Strong enough to make him recoil and to mute him. Vaguely he thought that maybe he was being rude by throwing away a present in front of the person who had given it to him but he didn’t care, as long as that thing was out of his hands.

Jongdae looked like a kicked puppy, his eyes still staring in the general direction of where Baekhyun had thrown the starfish he had just given him. His mouth was agape when he turned in Baekhyun’s direction. “Did I offend you?”

“I-- No, God no-- I’m so sorry that was super rude,” Baekhyun hurried to explain. “I’m sorry it’s just-- The texture felt so uh. Weird. I threw it before I knew what I was doing. I really am so sorry Jongdae. If anything I think I might have offended you--”

“Goodness, no.” Jongdae replied. “Please stop apologizing, the fault lies with me for not giving you any warning.” His face still looked sad, but less sad than it had moments ago. He reached out a hand in Baekhyun’s direction which caught Baekhyun off guard. He handed him his free hand and Jongdae took it. He no longer looked sad, only amused.

“As much as I’m delighted to hold your hand, dearest one, I was hoping you would give me the flower.” Jongdae explained but did not release his hold on Baekhyun’s hand, when Baekhyun tried to take it back he continued, “Baekhyunie I have two hands for a reason, I don’t need to free this one-” he lightly tugged the hand in question, “to hold your present with the other one. Not unless you want to.”

“Oh-- No I like this. Here.”

Jongdae took the flower with his free hand, pressed it against his chest just over his heart; he brought Baekhyun’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. “Thank you.”

Jongdae lowered their intertwined hands and brought the flower close to his face. Baekhyun guessed he wanted to admire it from up close, smell it just like he had on his way here. Jongdae took him by surprise when instead of smelling it he opened his mouth and bit a handful of petals off and began chewing on them. His face twisted almost immediately.

“That is um. An interesting flavor. Do you eat this often?” Jongdae asked, face still discomposed.

“Jongdae what the fuck,” Baekhyun felt like crying from how absurd what he’d just witnessed was. That and how plainly obvious it was that the ranunculus tasted like _shit_. “It wasn’t for _eating._ ” And then he finally gave in to his desire to laugh.

“Oh.”

“‘Oh’ indeed. Was it terrible?”

“Not terrible, just very bitter.” Jongdae answered. Baekhyun made a face that Jongdae thought meant _very bitter sounds terrible._ “I thought it was an edible present. Like the starfish. I believe I might have destroyed it a little, sorry.”

“ _The starfish was for eating?!_ ” 

“Yes, they’re quite delicious. I’m accustomed to gifts that you can eat.” Jongdae explained and then asked, “What was the flower for?”

“The florist said it means "I like you”,” Baekhyun blushed while saying it. “And I do like you. I’m sorry it tasted bad, I didn’t expect you to eat it.”

“It’s okay Baekhyun,” Jongdae said. “I should not have assumed it was for eating. I should also not have assumed you like eating starfish.”

"I guess I could try it." Baekhyun conceded. "But certainly not alive, slimy and while moving in my hands." 

Jongdae laughed at this. Baekhyun felt like he had achieved something. It no longer mattered that the date had been a little bit of a disaster up until now. Jongdae was laughing, _that_ mattered. 

"Starfish doesn't have any meaning that I am aware of," Jongdae began, "but let's just pretend that it means the same thing as your flower." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean that I fancy you too. That I like you, as you would say." 

Jongdae was such a smooth talker, so effortlessly sweet and _sincere_ that it kept taking Baekhyun by surprise. Their day together flew by. Time was once again behaving like Baekhyun’s enemy.

“Hey gorgeous,” Baekhyun said. It was his turn to see Jongdae being a mess, it seemed he was a shameless flirt but he grew shy at being flirted back to. _I could get used to this._ “I have to go now- Seeing as the flower is no more, can I give you something else to take back with you?”

Jongdae nodded, still a little dazzled from the pet name.

“Okay-” Baekhyun took a deep breath. “Close your eyes, please.”

Jongdae nodded again and obediently closed his eyes really hard. Baekhyun would have found it funny but he was too busy being nervous. A few seconds passed where Jongdae figured Baekhyun was retrieving whatever it was he wanted to give Jongdae and then. Then Jongdae felt a soft pressure on his lips that he recognized as a kiss. Baekhyun’s lips were softer than he had imagined and he _had_ given it a great deal of thought. It was Jongdae’s turn to take a deep breath, he wasn’t sure what for but it felt like relief.

Baekhyun’s lips left Jongdae’s which he took as a cue to open his eyes. Baekhyun was blushing but he was also far, Jongdae tackled Baekhyun. The only thing preventing them from falling down was Baekhyun’s steadiness and then they were kissing again. The first kiss had been hesitant and full of gentleness, more of a smooch than a kiss really. The second kiss was a _proper_ kiss, Jongdae thought. He knew sometimes kissing someone you care a lot for felt like fireworks. He had seen them a couple of times, the colors were beautiful and the sound was deafening. There were fireworks now, inside his body. His chest felt colorful and he was sure it was loud, with how hard his heart was beating.

Jongdae broke the kiss and smiled. “I thought you should have something to take home with you too.”

\----------------

The next time Jongdae saw Baekhyun he was surprised to see there was someone else with him. As the two figures grew closer Jongdae noticed that the man accompanying Baekhyun matched the description he had of Jongin. Stylish, tall, tan and very pretty. Baekhyun had described his friend in more depth, but “he makes you feel warm inside” and “he dances and takes your breath away” were a bit more difficult to categorize from a distance. 

Baekhyun looked beautiful as always. More beautiful now that Jongdae could put his hands around his waist and plant a kiss on his mouth as a greeting, which he did. They broke apart. Neither looked even a bit embarrassed over the display of affection in front of their one person audience.

“He’s been wanting to meet you for a while now. I brought him so he’d stop nagging me about it.” Baekhyun sheepishly explained.

“I’m your best friend hyung. Nagging you is the job description.” Jongin smiled and extended a hand towards Jongdae. “Nice to meet you, I’m Jongin. Sorry to third wheel your date but I needed to meet the person who’s been keeping my friend’s one brain cell occupied.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance Jongin.” Jongdae replied as he shook Jongin’s hand and smiled. He seemed deeply immersed in his thoughts for a second and then he announced, “let me call my friends, I have a feeling you will get along marvelously.” And then he dived under the water.

“He’s pretty hyung. Not my type, but I understand all your fuss now.” Jongin said once he deemed Jongdae out of hearing range and poked at Baekhyun’s side. “That’s also definitely a tail.”

“I told you I hadn’t hit my head Nini--” Baekhyun replied and poked back.

“And I believed you hyung. Well I believed you believed it but-- Mermaids, you know? Real life mermaids.” 

Jongdae resurfaced and after him came three others. Baekhyun could hear his friend letting out a tiny gasp. _Nice to know the mermaid mojo gets to him too._ All the newcomers were as equally pretty as Jongdae. Different, but very beautiful. From where they stood they couldn’t fully see their tails but the water was clear enough that the colors bled through. 

“I’ve heard so much about you guys!” Baekhyun said with barely contained excitement and nervousness. He wanted Jongdae’s friends to like him and he had not expected to meet them today. _First impressions are important!_

“If anything, Baekhyun, we’ve heard about _you._ ” Kyungsoo retorted, much to Jongdae’s dismay.

-

“How come there’s no pictures of mermaids?” Jongin asked. All the introductions had been made and they had fallen into comfortable conversation. Both parties asking questions with immense curiosity.

An arm went up quickly. “Oh! I know this one! It’s because when we’re underwater our tails and skin don’t photograph. Comes with being a merman I think. At most you would get a blur and under the ocean that could be almost anything. And when we’re outside-- well we look just like you guys.” Chanyeol replied excitedly. 

They kept excitedly chatting for a moment. Jongdae had been right: they were getting along. They were getting along _too much._ He had pulled Baekhyun from the hand so he could kiss him in private, but from the distance Baekhyun and him kept from the others he couldn’t make out what the others were saying. His friends would occasionally point at him, mimic things and laugh. Jongin fit right in, doing the same things but pointing at Baekhyun instead. With a sigh Jongdae decided it was best to rejoining his friends before they could tarnish his reputation forever.

“Jongin?” Inquired Kyungsoo. His voice was very deep and it startled Jongin to be addressed directly by him. Kyungsoo had been staring intently at him. His eyes were very big and Jongin felt that Kyungsoo could see into his soul with them. “There’s something I would like to show you, if you don’t mind.”

Sehun and Chanyeol stared at each other and snickered. Jongin looked back at his friend as if asking for permission. Baekhyun shooed him away with a grin and turned away to ask Chanyeol a question .

When it was time to leave to catch the bus Baekhyun asked Sehun if he could retrieve his missing friend. When his friend was back Baekhyun noticed that he had what looked like a bite mark on his collarbone and his hair was messed, as if someone had pulled on it. Baekhyun decided to be merciful and not comment on it.

\-----------

Jongdae knew he had grown used to being able to see Baekhyun on the weekends, he missed being able to see him during weekdays but now that he had begun working he couldn’t drop by the beach every day. He knew weekends were _theirs._ And he had gotten comfortable, he had made a routine for himself and he knew that there was always the weekend to look forward to. All of this, however, did not comfort Jongdae when Saturday morning came and Baekhyun wasn’t there. Saturday afternoon went by, and still no signs.

His heart did an almost painful flutter inside his chest, his stomach felt like it was playing a hardcore game of twister with his other organs. _There’s still tomorrow. He’ll be here._

But Sunday passed much like Saturday: No Baekhyun. The only difference between the two days were Jongdae’s increased feelings of unease and concern. Had he done something wrong? 

-

Baekhyun knew getting sick was a long time coming. A lot of swimming and not drying properly added to the stress of starting a new job and the overwhelming need to be good at it immediately would usually do it. 

He exercised, he ate as well as he could manage and his mom had the habit of sending him different health supplements. All of that had made all his previous colds easy to shake off. The relative ease of the past instances in which he had been sick left him unprepared to deal with being so sick he couldn't even sleep. 

"What was Junmyeon doing here?" Baekhyun asked Jongin from under the comforter, when his friend came inside his room to check on him. 

"My brother?" Jongin asked and knitted his brows. 

"What other Junmyeon do we know?" 

This seemed to be an alarming statement to say. By the way Jongin sat up and reached for the thermometer you would think Baekhyun had said something irrational like _Don't forget to text the pope_ or _I want to buy low waist jeans._ "My brother hasn't been here Baekhyun." 

"I just heard you two talking. Stop joking," Baekhyun said, as well as he could through the thermometer Jongin had shoved inside his mouth. "It's not funny." 

"That's it, we're taking you to the hospital." Jongin replied, after checking the temperature. "I don't care what you say, I am taking you to the hospital even if I have to knock you out to do it." He grinned, as if pleased with himself. "It would not take a lot." 

The hospital was bright and unpleasant, but Baekhyun didn’t remember much beyond the general discomfort. They lowered his fever and sent him back home, with an extra bitter medicine and instructions to take it. Baekhyun consoled himself by thinking it was ranunculus flavored medicine and by thinking of Jongdae’s face.

\-----------

By general rule Jongdae was always full of energy and his best way to spend it was by swimming to the cave and singing. Going to the cave filled him with nervous energy but staying home meant simmering thoughts he did not want to have. The cave was the lesser evil. He’d been there before knowing Baekhyun, surely he could be in it after and not miss him terribly. Surely.

He missed Baekhyun terribly.

He began singing but he kept on singing songs he knew Baekhyun liked and gave up halfway. The best part of singing them had always been Baekhyun’s smile when hearing them. He missed Baekhyun terribly.

After the sixth or seventh failed attempt at a song he gave up and started plucking seaweed. Baekhyun had told him about flower crowns and he wanted to try and braid seaweed into something similar. _I miss Baekhyun terribly._

Baekhyun found him sitting next to what looked like ropes made out of an unknown material and asleep, his chest rising steadily despite his face being completely covered by water. 

“Jongdae?” Baekhyun asked and tapped on Jongdae’s shoulder.

Jongdae opened his eyes. Blinked once. Twice. Baekhyun was still there. “Oh I missed you terribly. Thank you for coming to me.” Jongdae said, as he threw his arms out and hugged Baekhyun as tight as he could. He pulled away to plant a loud kiss on Baekhyun’s cheek and immediately pulled him back into another hug. Baekhyun began laughing but his voice sounded a bit off.

“Beloved, what is wrong?” Jongdae’s relief at seeing Baekhyun was short lived when he noticed the red nose, the bags under his eyes and his overall pale complexion.

“Nothing, I got really sick.” Baekhyun explained. “I was in the hospital from Saturday night to Sunday morning. Sorry I missed our date my love.”

“There is nothing to apologize for, I am glad you’re here now and better?” Jongdae phrased the last part as a question, not entirely sure Baekhyun _was_ better.

“When I tried to go to work Minseok saw me come in and chased me out with sanitizer, he told me to work from home until I wasn’t a health hazard to others, which is why I’m here today. Jongin also wouldn’t let me out of bed until today,” Baekhyun’s voice sounded funny, his nose still not fully cleared. “He said one weekend would not be the end of the world but it felt like it. I wanted to come here but he said that if I went anywhere near the water with the fever that I had he wouldn’t even help identify my body. He’s very forceful for a teddy bear.”

“You could always stay at the shore,” Jongdae replied. “I know the saltwater and the sand-”

Baekhyun interrupted him with a soft laugh. “Oh no. Jongin knows me really well. I _would_ have gotten into the water,” he gestured at the water that reached his waist. “...I did get into the water.”

“I could have gone to you. I would have but I don’t have money and I also don’t really remember your address.” His eyebrows were being omniscient again. “Underwater it’s always “The third anemone to your right” or “Next to where the whatever fish nested this year” so the street names and numbers are a bit hard to process.”

The ridiculousness and honesty of Jongdae’s words got an even harder laugh out of Baekhyun that developed into a cough. He kept laughing through it nonetheless. “How- How on Earth would you have gone to my house? You can’t walk with that tail.”

“I could just turn it into legs, but again, I didn’t know how to get to your house and I thought- I figured that maybe I would have been overstepping.”

Baekhyun chose to ignore the last part, he would address it later but first he needed to know what Jongdae meant. “What do you mean turn your tail into legs?”

“It takes a long while and it’s pesky but we merpeople _could_ walk, if we wanted to.”

“So you can go outside the water? And you sprout legs???” Baekhyun looked flabbergasted, his voice was full of mock indignation.

“Well yes.” Jongdae replied. “But it is very tedious and being outside the water hurts a little, like I really need to drink water.”

“Just like that episode of Spongebob.”

“What?”

“Nevermind that. But isn’t it forbidden?” Baekhyun pushed.

“Forbidden by _whom?_ ” Jongdae replied as he grew amused by Baekhyun’s insistence.

“I don’t know! The laws of merpeople? Why else would humans be unaware you guys exist?”

“My friends have human friends, I think humans are just very bad at believing their fellow humans.” Jongdae replied, confused as to where Baekhyun was going with this. “But no, the “laws” of merpeople don’t ban us from interacting with humans nor going on land.”

“Well fuck. I was already picturing our 300k+ words fanfiction, full of pining and angst, where our love was forbidden because the laws of your people kept you from going on land. In my mind we would search for a way for me to be able to live underwater.” Baekhyun was glowing with mirth as he explained all that he had pictured. “Our relationship would be put to the test, we would fight and make up and it would all be very dramatic. Truly worthy of a play, if I do say so myself.”

“I’m sorry? We could still fight if you’d like.” He replied, but his face was the definition of calm.

Baekhyun let out a giggle at that. “No, it’s just not the same but thanks.” He replied and stuck out his tongue to blow a raspberry.

“We _could_ just be tender and soft though. Isn’t that good too? To experience a rewarding and kind love?” Jongdae tilted his head, as if looking more adorable would help his case. It did.

“Yes.” Baekhyun pressed a kiss on Jongdae’s forehead. “Yes, that’s good too.” And pressed another kiss, this time on his boyfriend’s lips.

\------------

Jongdae had visited Baekhyun and Jongin’s apartment. Baekhyun had been there for the process of “growing legs” as he called it, but if you were to ask him how it’d happened he would not recall. There had been some thought-clouding things in sight, so he remembered that he had blushed to the tips of his ears instead of the mermaid magic itself. 

Their date had been incredibly mundane. Baekhyun had taken Jongdae to a thrift shop and made them try on ridiculous outfits, purchasing some of them for Jongdae under the excuse that Jongdae needed clothes. After he had dragged Jongdae to a karaoke booth where Jongdae kept on getting perfect scores, despite not having even heard the songs before. Baekhyun had tried distracting him by tickling his sides at first and then literally straddling his lap so that Jongdae would stop singing, which he did. The machine still happily announced a perfect score despite the fact that Jongdae had been too busy kissing his boyfriend to sing his lines.

After that they went home and watched a movie while cuddling on the living room’s couch. Jongin had snorted when he saw them and turned around to enter his room immediately. Baekhyun had not minded, he was focused on getting Jongdae to try all of his favorite snacks. Jongdae, it seemed, had an inclination for sweets and for being the big spoon. _My ideal man._

Since then, the weather had gotten hot enough that getting into the water was more of a reward than usual for Baekhyun. The ocean was still mercilessly cold, but the sun shined hot enough that it made up for it. Plus Jongdae was always more than willing to put his arms around Baekhyun to keep him warm. Kissing him senseless also worked, among other activities. Baekhyun and Jongdae had agreed to put their human dates on hold until it wasn’t unbearably hot.

Today was more of a group hangout than a date. Jongdae was still shameless despite the company, finding excuses to compliment or hug Baekhyun every five minutes. Jongin and Baekhyun had brought clothes for the four mermen, along with a beach volleyball ball. They had briefly explained how the game was supposed to be played. Chanyeol had been teamed up with Jongdae and Jongin and looked like he wanted to strangle them, Jongdae was more focused on staring at Baekhyun than on winning the game. Jongin was doing fine, but he wasn’t as competitive as Chanyeol would have wanted

Jongin and Baekhyun decided to sit out the following match. They amused themselves by watching how the mermen progressively altered the game rules until they weren’t playing anything remotely close to volleyball at all. They had abandoned all pretense and dived for the water, trying to hit each other with the ball. 

Jongin, however, had looked like he had something to say for the past hour and Baekhyun had had it, he pulled his best friend away and said: "Okay, out with it Nini, _what is it?_ " Jongin managed a look that combined blood rushing to his cheeks and blood leaving his face. He started letting some weird sounds escape his mouth and Baekhyun began growing concerned that the other boy might be having a stroke. 

"Umm well- how- what I've been meaning to ask is- You know- I've been wondering how does it work between you two?" Jongin was almost choking with the difficulty of getting the words out, he was glancing towards were Jongdae’s friends were gathered. Baekhyun knew Jongin so well that he didn’t need to check to know Jongin was staring at Kyungsoo, especifically.

The slight eyebrow raise Baekhyun gave him was signal enough that he knew what Jongin was asking. "How _what_ works, Nini?" 

"Hyung, you know very well what! Please don't make me say it" 

Baekhyun started giggling like an idiot, because he indeed knew but that didn’t mean he would make it easier for him. "Wouldn't you like to know?" And with that, instead of giving Jongin an explanation he sprinted towards the water while laughing out loud. Jongdae was waiting for him there. 

**Author's Note:**

> The alternative titles were Mermaid man and Barnacle boy/Mermalicious
> 
> Thanks to Yan and Maria for reading this and telling me it didn't suck, you two are my BABIES. Talk to me on [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/dandeliondae) if you also think this didn't suck


End file.
